Unit 3 - Year 3 Lessons

Overview

Students will complete Unit 3 Year 3 activities using coding and physical computing workflows.

Target skills:

• Computational Thinking
• Physical Computing
• Creative Problem Solving

Tools:

• Micro:bit
• MakeCode

Outputs:

• Student-created program(s) or interactive project(s) saved to class folder.

Week 1 - Pins & Speakers

Lesson 1 - Touch to Play (Pins P0/P1/P2)

Goal: Play notes by touching crocodile clips connected to P0/P1/P2 (with GND).
Refer back to Year 1 for flashing/downloading steps.

Pins

Setup & Tips

• Attach clips to the ring pads; don’t cross clips.
  
  
• Tape can help keep clips in place.
  

Program

• Use touch input on P0/P1 to play tones; add P2 for an extra note.
  

Challenge

• Compose a short tune using different pins (notes).

Lesson 2 - External Speaker

Goal: Output micro:bit sound to an external speaker/headphones.
Link: https://microbit.org/projects/make-it-code-it/make-some-noise/

Steps

1. Wire P0 > speaker +, GND > speaker - (follow guide).
2. Reuse pin-touch code; confirm audio plays through the speaker.
3. Try recreating familiar sounds (e.g., convenience store chimes).
   Family Mart sample: https://www2.panasonic.biz/jp/densetsu/ha/signal/chime/sounds/product03/ec5347_m02.wav

Week 2 - DIY Touch Guitar

Lesson 1 - Build the Guitar

Goal: Create a cardboard guitar with aluminum-tape “strings” wired to pins.
Link: https://microbit.org/projects/make-it-code-it/guitar-1-touch-tunes/

Materials

• Cardboard, crocodile clips, speaker/headphones, aluminum tape/foil
  

Make & Code

• Map each “string” (aluminum strip) to P0/P1/P2 (and more if available).
• Play different notes per pin.
  

Lesson 2 - Extend the Instrument

Goal: Add more sounds/notes, or octave shifts based on buttons/gestures.

Ideas

• Use A/B to change scale or octave.
• Use shake to add a strum chord.